Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The production of common bean in Nicaragua is restrained by the occurrence of begomoviruses (family Geminiviridae; genus Begomovirus). Infections with viruses are known to cause yield loss every year, making them an important target for investigation. This study was a part of INTA’s work to investigate the current prevalence and diversity of viruses in common bean plants in Nicaragua. The objective of this study was to identify species of begomoviruses that infects bean plants, and to estimate the degree of mixed infection of different begomoviruses. Samples were collected from two different areas on both costs of Nicaragua (Jinotega and Nueva Guinea), and observations indicating virus infection were made in both areas. Rolling circle amplification (RCA) was run in order to increase the amount of circular viral DNA and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with a universal primer pair was used for detection of begomoviruses. Infection with begomovirus was confirmed in both Jinotega and Nueva Guinea. The results from restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) indicated infection with more than one begomovirus in samples from two fields in Jinotega. Sequence analysis of RCA products from two samples (Jinotega 2a and Nueva Guinea 15c) also indicated mixed infection with Bean golden yellow mosaic virus (BGYMV) and Calopogonium golden mosaic virus (CalGMV) in sample 2a and infection with CalGMV in sample 15c. As begomoviruses are infecting beans of the Atlantic coast, strategies should be considered to control begomovirus infections in this area as well. Since the distribution of CalGMV could be more extensive in Nicaragua than previously known, there is a need for further investigations regarding the transmission of viruses between common beans and alternative hosts, such as the weed Calopogonium sp.